Craig Field outlines $13M plan to renovate runways and lure new businesses

Craig Field is hoping that $13 million in grants and matching funds in the next four years will cover the cost to renovate the taxiways and ultimately bring more industry to the former Air Force base. 

Craig Airport Executive Director Jim Corrigan told the Rotary Club of Selma on Monday that the agency is in the midst of a five-year plan that includes redoing the taxiways around the state’s longest runway so it can withstand the weight of large planes that will ideally come for maintenance by companies they are luring to come to Selma and set up shop. 

Craig Field has $1.7 million in grants for the project this year and hope to get millions more in federal and state grants for the taxiway that must be reinforced for cargo and other military planes to use without causing damage. Businesses that repair large planes under military contract are ideal for Craig Field, where they have plenty of hangar space and long runways, Corrigan said. 

Craig has attracted two schools in recent years that teach air traffic control,maintenance and flight in Selma, but there are still hurdles to jump for those new companies to grow in Selma, Corrigan said. 

One hurdle is housing. Resicum, which teaches flight and airplane maintenance, has been trying to renovate an abandoned dorm but red tape related to the EPA grant keeps stalling the process, he said. ATC, the air traffic control school, also needs housing for the 15 students each session that often come from across the country, he added. 

Another hurdle is a lacking workforce in Selma and the Black Belt. Corrigan hopes to fix that with a new Black Belt Aviation Consortium that was announced in mid-September. It is a partnership with Wallace Community College Selma and Marion Military Institute to offer courses for aviation-related degrees that will train local students to work at Craig-based companies. 

Sen. Robert Stewart secured $2 million in state community college funding to create the initiative and a “pipeline to high-income careers” for students in the Black Belt region. Now Corrigan waits for the college to recruit students that will be candidates for scholarships and send them his way. 

Another pressing issue for Craig is the changeover of the railroad line to being managed by CSX instead of Meridian & Bigbee. The line, which is the only spur in the area, is key for current businesses and future ones being courted but CSX doesn’t maintenance spurs. Corrigan is meeting with local lawmakers to get help covering the cost to handle maintenance to keep the line open. 

Much of the effort takes a long time to achieve, which Corrigan said is hard because he wants results now. 

“We know we’re the key to economic development. It’s difficult to imagine a company coming up and building a factory out in a cotton field, but they will build at an airport,” Corrigan said. “You can bring in aviation-related businesses that do maintenance repair or intermodal distribution when you’ve got an 8,000-foot runway. … They will come. It’s a matter of time.”